Pulitzer Prize for Drama

In its first 106 years to 2022, the Drama Pulitzer was awarded 91 times; none were given in 15 years and it was never split.

The most recipients of the prize in one year was five, when Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Jr., Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch, and Edward Kleban shared the 1976 prize for the musical A Chorus Line.

† marks winners of the Tony Award for Best Play.

* marks winners of the Tony Award for Best Musical.

≠ marks nominees of the Tony Award for Best Play or the Tony Award for Best Musical

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The Nominating Jury acknowledged their first choice, 'The Civil Wars', was unconventional and "not a play in any traditional sense of the word". The only other option they offered was Hannah and Her Sisters by Woody Allen, which they realized was not a traditional nominee for a drama award, due to it being a film, but thought they would "raise the question of... eligibility" anyway.}}

Ten musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, roughly one per decade from the 1930s to the 2020s¹. They are: George and Ira Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing (1932), Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific (1950), Bock & Harnick's Fiorello! (1960), Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962), Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, James Kirkwood, Jr., and Nicholas Dante's A Chorus Line (1976), Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George (1985), Jonathan Larson's Rent (1996), Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt's Next to Normal (2010), Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton (2016), and Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop (2020). Though it did not win for Drama, Oklahoma! was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944.

Of note, South Pacific won the 1950 Pulitzer for Drama but its source material, James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, also won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Sunday in the Park with George and Next to Normal are the only musicals that won the Pulitzer Prize and did not also win the Tony Award for Best Musical; the latter won the authors Tonys for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations.{{ibdb show|id=483135|title=Next to Normal}} Of Thee I Sing opened before the Tony Awards existed.

The award goes to the playwright, although production of the play is also taken into account. In the case of a musical being awarded the prize, the composer, lyricist and book writer are generally the recipients. An exception to this was the first Pulitzer ever awarded to a musical: when Of Thee I Sing won in 1932, book authors George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, as well as lyricist Ira Gershwin, were cited as the winners, while composer George Gershwin's contribution was overlooked by the committee. The reason given was that the Pulitzer Prize for Drama is a dramatic award, and not a musical one. However, by 1950 the Pulitzer committee included composer Richard Rodgers as a recipient when South Pacific won the award, in recognition of music as an integral and important part of the theatrical experience.Flinn, Denny Martin. Musical! A Grand Tour. Schirmer, first edition (April 17, 1997), pages 230–31. {{ISBN|0-02-864610-X}}

Additionally, since 1983, when the identity of finalists was first disclosed, five musicals have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. They are: Lee Breuer and Bob Telson's The Gospel at Colonus (1985); Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes' In the Heights (2009); Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's Fun Home (2014); Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (2017); and David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's Soft Power (2020).

_{¹All listed dates are Prize years. Generally, the musical in question opened in New York during either the preceding calendar year or the preceding Broadway season.}

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The following individuals received two or more Pulitzer Prizes for Drama:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
scope="col" width="55" style="text-align:center" | Wins ! scope="col" style="text-align:center" | Playwright ! scope="col" width="55" | Nominations
4 | Eugene O'Neill | 4
rowspan=2 | 3 | Edward Albee | 5
Robert E. Sherwood | 3
rowspan=5 | 2 | August Wilson | 6
George S. Kaufman | rowspan=4 | 2
Lynn Nottage
Thornton Wilder
Tennessee Williams

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The following individuals received two or more nominations:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
scope="col" width="55" | Nominations ! scope="col" style="text-align:center" | Playwright
rowspan=1 style="text-align:center" | 6 | August Wilson
rowspan=1 style="text-align:center" | 5 | Edward Albee
rowspan=1 style="text-align:center" |4 | Eugene O'Neill
rowspan=8 style="text-align:center" |3 | Quiara Alegría Hudes
David Henry Hwang
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Tracy Letts
Donald Margulies
Suzan-Lori Parks
Robert E. Sherwood
Sam Shepard
rowspan=17 style="text-align:center" |2 | Jon Robin Baitz
Gina Gionfriddo
John Guare
A.R. Gurney
Richard Greenberg
Tina Howe
Stephen Karam
George S. Kaufman
David Mamet
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lynn Nottage
Sarah Ruhl
Neil Simon
Jeanine Tesori
Alfred Uhry
Thornton Wilder
Tennessee Williams

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Lynn Nottage is the only female playwright to win the prize twice. She and August Wilson are the only playwrights of color to accomplish this feat.

Jon Robin Baitz, Gina Gionfriddo, John Guare, A.R. Gurney, Richard Greenberg, Tina Howe, Stephen Karam, Sarah Ruhl and Jeanine Tesori have each been named finalists twice without winning. David Henry Hwang is the only person to have been named a finalist thrice without winning. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeanine Tesori are the only people to be named as a finalist twice for writing/composing a musical, with Miranda winning in 2016.

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[http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Drama "Drama"]. The Pulitzer Prizes (pulitzer.org). Retrieved 2013-12-20.

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Drama

Category:American literary awards

Category:American theater awards

Category:Dramatist and playwright awards

Category:Awards established in 1918